Christopher Columbus, the famous navigator and explorer who is credited with the discovery of America. Although he was not the first European to visit the New World was born in 1451 in Geneva, Italy. The site of his birth has been a matter of debate for quite some time but several documents confirm that he was born in the Republic of Geneva as the eldest of five children to Domenico Colombo and Susanna Fontanarossa. Little is known about Columbus' early life and childhood he first went to sea when he was 18 years old and started making voyages for the Genoese firms at age of 21. When Columbus arrived to Portugal is not exactly known, but in 1479 he married Filipa Moniz Perestrelo, a daughter of the Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Perestrello. He first lived with his wife in Lisbon where his mother in law showed him Persrestlo's documents about the western lands in the Atlantic, which probably influenced his theory about a westward route to Asia. He then moved to Porto Santo where his wife Filipa died shortly after giving birth to his son Diego.